Month: October 2017

The FCC is seeking comment on how to modernize two provisions in Part 73 of the Commission’s rules governing broadcast licensees:Section 73.624(g), which establishes certain reporting obligations relating to the provision of ancillary or supplementary services, and Section 73.3580, which sets forth requirements concerning public notice of the filing of broadcast applications. First, the FCC proposes amendments to Section 73.624(g)(2) that would relieve certain television broadcasters of the obligation to submit FCC Form 2100, Schedule G,  which is used to report information about the provision of ancillary or supplementary services. Second, the FCC seeks comment on whether to update or repeal Section 73.3580 of the rules, which requires broadcast applicants to provide public notice of the filing of various license applications, to afford such applicants more flexibility in how they provide that notice. As part of this inquiry , the FCC seeks comment on whether to permit broadcast applicants that currently provide written notice in a local newspaper, instead to provide that notice online.

The Federal Communications Commission has eliminated the broadcast main studio rule. The rule required stations to maintain a local or toll-free telephone number to ensure consumers have ready access to their local stations and required each AM radio, FM radio, and television broadcast station to have a main studio located in or near its local community.  Elimination of the main studio rule should produce substantial cost-saving benefits for broadcasters that can be directed towards other services that benefit consumers.It will also make it easier for broadcasters to prevent stations in small towns from going dark and to launch new stations in rural areas.

The Media Bureau will temporarily lift a freeze imposed on the filing and processing of certain full power and Class A station applications. This action will help ensure the utility of an upcoming application filing window for secondary stations displaced by the incentive auction repacking process by reducing the likelihood that facility modifications awarded in that displacement window might shortly thereafter be displaced again by applications of priority stations.

The Incentive Auction Task Force and the Media Bureau (Bureau) announced the issuance of an initial allocation of the TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund (Fund) in the total amount of $1 billion to begin to reimburse eligible full power and Class A broadcasters and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs ) (together, Eligible Entities ), for expenses related to the construction of station facilities on reassigned channels. The Bureau will continue to monitor closely the draw-down of Fund amounts and allocate additional amounts later in the transition period